How long could you take a trip without a baby

[plain jane]

and expect that little one not to wean? I'm planning into the future and considering a 5 day long trip when my youngest will be 18 months. I'd be gone 5 days. Would I still be a nursing mama when I got back? :001_unsure: Is there anything I can do to ensure that my little one would still want to nurse? Would I be better off gradually weaning until that point & wean before leaving? I don't know what to do.

[allymom]

I'm fairly certain that could go either way. Would your nursling have enough mama's milk while you're gone? Will you plan on pumping during that time? I've heard of babies weaning in that time even if you pumped prior and during. But I've also heard of them going back to it.

 

FWIW, the most I've left a nursling, about 18 months old, was 36 hours, without pumping, and she went right back to nursing.

[LibraryLover]

48 hours. Tops. I did 24-28 hours at that age, and I was in pain and longing. (I did pump.) My dc nursed like crazy upon my arrival. There were no signs of weaning. lol

Edited April 7, 2012 by LibraryLover

[mommymilkies]

You would probably dry up and baby would wean. Do you have to go now or can you wait until after weaning?

[StephanieZ]

When my son was 14 months old, my dad suffered a stroke 1500 miles from our home (and had no other near relatives) & so I had to go, alone, to where he was. I was gone for 7 days, then home for a week, then gone for another 5 days until Dad died.

 

My son was pretty traumatized by my absence, I think, even though he acted OK while I was gone. He refused to LOOK at me in the car on the way home from the airport . . . but a few hours later, he was nursing again and be continued to nurse until after he turned 2.

 

I wouldn't leave a baby under 2 unless I had no choice, but nonetheless, he nursed just fine once I was home. (And I had been under extreme stress with my dying dad during those absences and did nothing to try to maintain milk supply.)

[SonshineLearner]

I nursed until my son was almost 5. I had a few days at a time that I would be gone, and he still wanted to nurse when I got back. I guess it depends on how much they love it. He would have nursed till college if he could have ;)

[Stayseeliz]

IMO that is too long to leave an 18mo if you want to maintain a nursing relationship. My DD3 will be 16mo this summer and I would *like* to leave her overnight with my mom for our anniversary but we'll see. I want to nurse until around two but I wouldn't leave for more than 36 hours right now.

[kitten18]

I left DS for 3 days when he was 18 months, he went right back to nursing when I got home.:D I pumped and dumped while I was away from him.

[myfunnybunch]

48 hours. Tops. I did 24-28 hours at that age, and I was in pain and longing. (I did pump.) My dc nursed like crazy upon my arrival. There were no signs of weaning. lol

 

Ditto.

 

I thought I was going to BURST.

 

My little one was not traumatized much by my weekend away, but I still hurt just thinking about it.

 

Cat

[Pippen]

My SIL went on a five day ski trip when her baby was a few months old. She'd pumped and substituted in bottles for some of the feedings before she left so it wasn't a sudden and dramatic change on both ends of the trip for either of them.

[Plink]

It really depends on you and your baby (sorry, I know that's not very helpful).

 

My sister had to leave her little one for SIX WEEKS and he was able to return to nursing when she got home. She did pump while she was gone, and we were very careful to give baby only the tiniest nipples on his bottles so that he still had to work for his milk.

 

OTOH, my body had a hard time maintaining a milk supply and one full day away would have been too much. Two of my little ones weaned themselves at 4 months, so I'm an extreme case. The amazing sis I mentioned above fed her own babies and then pumped for my kids until they reached a year old. :001_wub:

 

You know your body best. Go with your instinct.

[Butter]

It's hard to say. When my oldest was 21 months, my parents took her with them for a week in Florida to visit my grandmother. She was nursing (a LOT!) when she left. I wondered if she'd still be nursing when she got back. As it turned out, she nursed until she decided she was done at 3 1/2. She went right back to it. It may have helped, though, that I was also nursing her little brother, who was a couple months old when she went to Florida, so the amount of milk didn't really change even with me not pumping or anything. Plus when she got back she saw him nursing. I've known others who went on trips when their littlest was around 18 months and some weaned, some didn't.

[gardenmom5]

Is there anything I can do to ensure that my little one would still want to nurse? Would I be better off gradually weaning until that point & wean before leaving? I don't know what to do.

 

it depends upon your little one's personality, and are you sure you want to go there? I weaned three at 18 months (two didn't care), one weaned herself earlier, and the last one . . .

 

I had one at that age who hit me for six months after I weaned him. He switched to a bottle - it was the only thing that would comfort him. He would even crawl on my lap and pretend to nurse until he was five. my youngest had the same personality, so he was 3 1/2 when I weaned him - because I was ready to run screaming whenever he so much as looked at me. he's seven - and he'll still grab my breast and knead it if he feels particularly stressed. (I've worked to get him another "lovey" with some success. He's HFASD as is the other one who didn't want to wean.) I even left him for a weekend when he was 2 1/2, and he was fine but happy to nurse when I came home.

[Annie]

The amazing sis I mentioned above fed her own babies and then pumped for my kids until they reached a year old. :001_wub:

 

 

Wow, that is a pretty amazing sister! My pump and I don't get along, so I'm always in awe of the women who are able and willing to do things like this. I've seen a friend donate gallons to a woman who was adopting. Me? I took me a week worth of pumping to come up with enough for one bottle so I could go see the Harry Potter movie two falls ago. :)

 

 

OP - I'm not sure what will happen. I'll be leaving my very newly two year old at the end of May for about 48 hours. A very dear friend I've known all my life is getting married in another state, and there's just no realistic way to bring him. I hope he doesn't wean, but I know that he may. :grouphug:

[eternalknot]

I was back at work by 18 months, and traveling for 2-5 nights per week anywhere from 2-4 weeks per month. My kids were heavy nursers, but continued nursing well through the preschool years despite the many stops/starts my job caused. If anything, it's probably the stop/starts that kept them on the boob for so many years!

 

Agreeing, though, that kid personality will factor in; as will kid's reaction (internal or external) to mom's vibe (internal or external) about the whole thing. Tough call, but when in doubt - don't? ((hugs))

[prairiewindmomma]

When my older daughter was hospitalized near the end of her battle with cancer, I had to do an emergency weaning of my baby. I successfully relactated her four weeks later after my older daughter had died. Previous to that, my longest time away from a nursling had been 48 hrs.

[HayesW]

I once left my nursling for 6 days. He was just over a year old. Went back to nursing with no issues.

[cathmom]

Last year I had to take a medicine that wasn't compatible with nursing for 10 days (and a little more to get it out of my system). My 2.5 yo waited through those 10 days and went right back to nursing the second I said he could.